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2009 Tournament News
CONGRATULATIONS
Amherst College Lord Jeffs (29-2) website
George Fox University Bruins (30-0) website
The College of New Jersey Lions (27-4) website
Washington University in St. Louis Bears (25-4) website
Tournament Stats of Participating Teams
Ticket Update
Fans of participating teams should contact their
schools first to assure seating in their section.
GENERAL PUBLIC SALE OF TICKETS -- Call 616-395-7890
Schedule of 2009 Games
Friday, March 20 -- Semi-finals
Amherst (29-2) vs. Washington University in St. Louis (25-4), 4 p.m. ET
George Fox (30-0) vs. The College of New Jersey (27-4), 6 p.m. ET
Saturday, March 21 -- Third place game, 10 a.m.
Saturday, March 21 -- Championship game, 1 p.m.
Press Conference Quotes
Held Thursday, March 19 at Holland, Michigan
AMHERST
Coach GP Gromacki
"We’re ready to go, we’re ready to play. We’d like to play right now,
if we could.”
“We pride ourselves on defense. We’re going to try to take them out of
their comfort zone. I think it’s going to be a great matchup with
different, contrasting styles.”
(on bouncing back from the loss to Bowdoin in the NESCAC finals) “It
wasn’t a crushing defeat, that we let it affect us. We needed to
improve a couple of things, we’re right there. Our effort has been
there on defense pretty much all year long, but it’s definitely and
steadily improved.”
“It doesn’t matter who scores for us. If we have somebody who scores
30, that’s great. We’d like to have a balanced attack, but right now,
it’s all about getting the win. If we score one point and they score
zero, we’re happy, we’ll take that any day.
Yasmine Harik, senior forward
“We learned from our loss (to Bowdoin), and we made that what it was.
We lost a game, we weren’t go to dwell on it. We’re going to learn
from our mistakes, and that made us that much better the following
four games.”
(on change in team mindset since Coach Gromacki arrived two years ago)
“When Coach Gromacki came in, he brought with him a winning attitude.
I think he instilled in us from the very beginning the idea we can
win, we will win, winning games is our goal, we want championships. It
was a complete reversal and completely different attitude.”
Jaci Daigneault, sophomore forward
“If we spread out our points, it bodes well for us. I think it’s
better when everyone’s scoring, everyone’s contributing.”
Shannon Finucane, freshman guard
(on team chemistry) “The mindset that everyone has is on the same
page, and it’s a great environment to be in.”
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY-ST. LOUIS
Head Coach Nancy Fahey
“I think this whole weekend is going to be about what style prevails.”
“It’s going to be a matter of execution, reading the overplays, and
not letting them dictate our offense.”
On team balance… “It’s certainly not by design, but we’re certainly
embracing it, full force…”
(on overcoming slow start) “I don’t think there’s anybody that would
have picked us (to be) sitting up here right now, at the beginning of
the year…I just (said),’Give us a chance.’”
Jill Brandt, senior guard:
“Every practice we talk about taking care of the ball, every
possession. Every possession matters in a close game.”
Janice Evans, junior forward
(on team chemistry) “We don’t bite each other’s heads off when we make
a bad play. We pick each other up, and that’s really important.”
GEORGE FOX
Head Coach Scott Rueck
“These girls have had an unreal season. It’s been one that was
unexpected going into it. They’ve embraced every challenge and we’re
looking forward to this weekend and the challenges ahead.”
(on TCNJ’s Hillary Klimowicz) “I don’t know if you stop her. She’s
very talented, and a veteran player, experienced.”
“We’ve seen talented post players, and this is another one. We’ll do
our best to slow her down. I don’t know if we can stop her, but we can
slow her down, I hope.”
“Having the youth that we’ve had, and having kids have to grow up on
the fly, to be successful we’ve been dependent on our defense, and it
starts with Kristen (Shielee). She’s been able to slow teams down
while we found ourselves offensively as the year has gone on, and now
the offense is much more defined.”
Kristen Shielee, senior center
(on Klimowicz) “You can’t always stop her, but you can challenge (her
shots) and make her life a little bit harder. That’s going to be my
goal, to slow her down and make her shoot from outside.”
THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY
Head Coach Dawn Henderson
“They stepped back after they lost two in a row and said this is not
what we want for this season. It really made a change in themselves.”
(on overcoming early 3-3 start and injuries to key players) “What I
really love about this team is we’ve played through it all. Different
people have gotten a lot of experience, and I think we’ve grown. Why
we’re 24-1 since that loss (to Montclair State Dec. 6) is completely
due to those experiences that they have.”
“I think hustle plays, defensive rebounding, eliminating people’s
run-out kind of scores, those are the things that are going to win a
game like this.”
Hillary Klimowicz, senior center
(on facing Kristen Shielee of George Fox) “It is very nice to play
against someone your height, or actually taller than me, that way you
don’t lose them on the court."
Alex Gregorek, junior forward
(on preparing for George Fox’s zone by )
“We’re our toughest defense, because we know exactly what we want to
run, where we want to get the ball. I think that if we’re able to do
it against our defense, we’ll be able to establish it in a game
(against their zone).”
EAT LIKE A CHAMPION!
EAT WITH A CHAMPION!!
Join us for your first game meal of the day by coming to Breakfast With Champions, an event held in conjunction with the NCAA Division III
Women's Basketball Championship hosted by Hope College.
Breakfast with Champions will be served on Saturday, March 21, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Phelps Hall on the campus of Hope
College, corner of 10th Street and Columbia Avenue. DeVos Fieldhouse, site of the tournament, is a short walk away.
The menu will include pancakes, eggs, bacon, hash browns, fruit, beverages, and more.
NCAA giveaways, entertainment, mascot sightings, a kids' coloring contest and appearances by members of the 1990 and 2006 Hope College national
championship teams will highlight this event.
Prices are $6 for adults, $3 for children ages 5-10, and children under 5 free. Call the Hope College Ticket Office at 616-395-7890 for ticket
information and to pre-purchase tickets. Tickets will also be sold at the breakfast.
We HOPE to see you there! It'll be GRRREAT!
Tickets Selling at Brisk Pace
The public sale of tickets for the 2009 NCAA Division III women's basketball
championship to be hosted by Hope College are continuing at a brisk pace.
The semi-finals and finals of the prestigious small college tournament
will be held Friday and Saturday, March 20-21.
Hope was also host to the championship last year, drawing more than 5,000
fans to the games. Thru March 11, season ticket holders and the general
public had already purchased just over 2,000 tickets,
according
to athletic
ticket
manager Anne
Bakker.
Tickets can be purchased for one session or for both. The single
session ticket costs are: reserved adult $15, general admission $12,
student general admission $10; two sessions: reserved adult $25,
general admission $20.
The DeVos Fieldhouse ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. Tickets may be purchased using a credit card by calling
616-395-7890.
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